T20 cricket makes it 'debut' in United States

Chennai, Oct 1 (UNI) Gaining popularity even in countries where cricket is not a national sport, the Twenty20 format of the sport has made its way into United States, following the efforts made by a businessman, owning a dot com company.

The tournament is being held in Hillsborough, New Jersey and is got up by an Andhrite Vinay Pallapalli settled there and his wife Kranthi Bayya, who is the CEO of DreamCricket.com, according to Mr Pallapalli who disclosed the details of the tournament to UNI in an e-mail interview.

Although efforts to rope in some top Indian stars, who had excelled in the Cricket Board's Indian Premier League(IPL)T20 games failed due to their busy itenerary beginning with the home series against Australia, international stars like Pakistan's Nasir Jamshed and Reon King and Neil McGarrel of West Indies are taking part in the new 'US edition' of T20.

The tournament will culminate in the grand finals on December 18, featuring 33 matches involving 12 teams on league cum knock-out basis. The teams are competing for a total prize money of USD 10,000, including USD 5000 to the winning team, Mr Pallapalli revealed. As part of the entertainment part of the T20 format, the finls will include a Bollywood-theme half time show.

The web portal 'NJT20.com' will provide updated scorecards, team and match previews and the results for avid cricket buffs. It will also host features like ball-by-ball commentary capabalities.

The 12 teams have been christened Tri-State Argonauts, Holmdel Hurricanes, NJ Royals, New Yourk Knights, Edison Daredevils, Global Challengers, North Jersey Renegades, Connecticut Patriots, Somerset Cavaliers, Mercer Warriors, Jersey Indians and Philadelphia Terminators.

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